Friday, October 21, 2011

I iz still 'ere

Yes, sad to report that rumours of my sacrifical demise on a mountain top somewhere in Upper ComeBuckta West were quite false.
I was only visiting ComeBuckta West, not its snooty near neighbour.

Actually I was running amok in Dunolly, as usual, with the Feral child and having a ball.
Had a tour of the Grey House, at Ironbark Gully near Tarnagulla (stone throwing distance from Dunolly and Murderers Hill) and a thorough tour in and around Tarnagulla (formerly Sandy Creek) including the original sluice/dredge and goldfields, where Edward, John and Elizabeth Bright discovered a handy nugget or 3 (Edward was later immortalised in Adam Lindsay Gordon's poem as Ned in The Sick Stockrider, when Lindsay Gordon worked for them while they lived in Sth Oz).

The Grey House is still being restored but the Ironbark Gully Heritage Association Inc have done a lot of hard work and lovingly repaired an old girl back to her original beauty, even to the minute details of lining boards on the ceilings, newspaper and hessain on the walls as a base for vintage wallpaper, and a restored bakers oven.
I'll post some pics up shortly, I'm being a lazy sod today.

Got taught how to read the landscape to see if gold is likely - Ironbark trees mean the bedrock is close to the surface and there's sweet FA gold.
But when Ironbarks mix with Grey Box and Yellow Gums then it's paydirt so start digging.

Had a peek through a quaint little stone cottage that was built by one chap who, during the Great Depression, would cycle through the bush getting work here and there and collected suitable stones to build his house.
It's known as Bell's Cottage, the full tale of Herbert Bell is HERE.
Again, pics to follow.

mm, trams. (BTW Anon is not me) - would you believe that my grandfather designed, and was, as chief engineer, part of the Glenelg tramway in Adelaide. Still runs, as far as i know -- but now with badly designed rolling-stock brought in from Germany (who, apparently, had difficulty comprehending that the temperatures in Adelaide could, in fact - go above 30C).